DEFENDING OUR TAKE ON RR

We'll be the first to tell you that MGoBlog is a trillion times better than this site and that if it's the Charles Woodson of Michigan blogs, we are the Johnny Sears.

But we'd like to defend our position that Rich Rod MUST reach a BCS bowl in 2010 or face the axe if we win 6 or 7 games next season - a position Brian Cook vehemently disagrees with:

We aren’t saying SHOULD Rich Rod be fired in 2010 if this happens. Bill Martin made a ballsy choice by going with RR and there’s no turning back now or two years down the road. No doubt it would take at least another two years for someone else to come in, implement a new system and recruit their own players to be successful.

What we’re saying is that Bill Martin won’t be able to handle the heat if Michigan goes, say, 8-4 and winds up in the Outback Bowl in 2010. Point blank: Whether it's fair or not, that's the reality of coaching Michigan.

This is what Dick Rod ALREADY has working against him after one season:

• The sloppy West Virginia divorce. Do we give a shit about that? No. But it’s just more ammo for anyone gunning at RR that this has been a complete shitshow from the beginning.

• Public perception as a sleaze bag. That includes the Justin Boren transfer, Joe Tiller’s “snake-oil salesman” comments, Jim Tressel’s “gentleman” jab (all minor by themselves) and the AA Rumor Mill already spinning about how much the players hate him for constantly degrading them as “C****” and “P******”.

• A very fair argument that this team actually regressed over the course of the season. I remember people saying it felt like we won the Utah game because we actually fought back and showed potential. People even said that after Notre Dame, insisting once we cut out the turnovers we'd have a real offense. Now this team's being dubbed the biggest embarassment in school history.

• The appearance, at the very least, that this Michigan team is already divided. Everyone saw Charles Stewart go apeshit on the sidelines, but there was TONS of finger-pointing on Saturday (Donovan Warren stood out in particular although we would have screamed at Stevie Brown all Saturday too) and Brandon Minor basically called out teammates afterward. Of course everyone’s going to be pissed off at the end of this season. But aside from winning, NOTHING is more important to Michigan except its "pristine image" - especially in the post-Fab Five Era.

• A “free pass” with Michigan fans that expired sooner than anyone expected. He was supposed to get at least one year; instead he got about six games. This is the same fan base that revolted against Lloyd Carr for “mediocrity” despite 3 trips to the Rose Bowl in his final 4 years and reputation as a class act (please believe we aren’t defending Lloyd, just stating the facts).

• The pressure on Bill Martin would be absolutely CRUSHING to get the program back into the hands of a “Michigan Man” such as Jim Harbaugh, Les Miles or even Brady Hoke (if you post a comment below stating we should have hired Hoke instead of Rodriguez, we will hunt you down and destroy you). As recent college graduates, we’re completely disillusioned about how many fans agreed with us that the football program needed a complete overhaul. We caught a huge break that the Les Miles negotiations turned into a complete debacle and there really were no other “Michigan Men” that made viable candidates. RR is still getting shit for the smallest slights of tradition, i.e. not naming permanent team captains, giving away #1 to a non-receiver or not telling the complete oral history of the Little Brown Jug. We agree: It's completely absurd. But again, this will come back to haunt Rod if he doesn't win.

• We hear a lot of "Rich Rod can't be expected to reach a BCS bowl with a sophomore QB!" Please. Doesn't Sam Bradford already feel like a 7th-year senior to you? A QB that's started an entire year (whether it's Forcier or Beaver) has plenty of experience in the college game - just ask LSU or Wisconsin.

• The fact 8-4 doesn’t mean dick these days. Wisconsin and Minnesota are 7-5 and we won’t even get started on how bad either looked last weekend. Throw in a nonconference schedule over the next two years that will feature 3 complete Jokers and Notre Dame, and there’s no way 8-4 will cut it in 2010.

• Jim Tressel. This guy took John Cooper’s complete mess and won the national title in Year Two! And if Michigan loses to Michigan in 2009 and 2010 (which they will have to avoid to reach a BCS bowl in 2010), that will be seven losses in a row to Ohio State (OK, that's a lot of "ifs" - we're just explaining our logic here).

And you don’t think heads will be rolling at that point? Yeah, good luck with that RR.

Editor's Update: To whoever posted below: Eat it.